MELBOURNE: The city of Melbourne came to a standstill after tens of thousands marched demanding better working condition. The rally comes ahead of the national elections slated for May.

The opposition Labor party wants to make moribund wages a focus of its election campaign, with its union allies claiming “Australians have seen the largest fall in their living standards in 30 years”.

The governing conservative Liberal-National coalition has been arguing that company tax cuts were the best way to boost wages.

KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada has said the government was preparing to bear the health insurance premium of absolute poor.

He added that it was the government’s policy to include all the people in health insurance.

Currently, the government has been bearing Rs 100 thousand as a health insurance premium of the elderly citizens above 70 years through the Health Insurance Board.

MELAMCHI: Attention of people’s representatives has been toward the sluggish construction of the mid-Bhotekoshi hydropower project. They have started pressure on the concerned authorities for its completion within the extended deadline.

The project has extended two year’s time for its completion following its failure to meet the first completion target of 2017.

The 102 megawatts project started in 2013. Now, the extended deadline for the project’s completion is June 2019. But only 50 percent of the construction has been completed so far as only four months remain to reach the deadline.

“Local level has been concerned with the delay. As a result, the locals, who have a portion of investment in the project, have been affected,” said Raj Kumar Poudel, chairperson of the rural municipality in a statement.

BHAKTAPUR : Bird flu has been detected in a poultry farm in Bhaktapur district.

Following the discovery at the Utkrista Multipurpose Agriculture Farm at Tarkhagal of Dadhikot in Suryabinayak municipality, 2,985 chickens and 150 kilograms poultry feeds were destroyed in the presence of the police, said vet Dr. Chandra Dhakal of the Livestock Service Expert Centre.

District administration office has urged the farmers not to resort to such activities while urging the local people to remain alert.

KATHMANDU: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has estimated Nepal’s economy to grow at 6.2 percent in fiscal year 2019, and 6.3 percent in FY 2020.

In a statement today, the ADB Country Director for Nepal Mukhtor Khamudkhanov said that the outlook is for a stable growth on the back of strong domestic demand, fueled by a larger budget allocation to subnational governments and accelerated post-earthquake reconstruction.

The statement said that the agriculture sector is likely grow from 2.8 percent in FY2018 to 4.5 percent in FY2019, owing to a good monsoon that is expected to boost paddy production to 5.5 million tons, a rise of 8.4 percent from the previous year.

Similarly, the industry sector is expected to expand by 7.1 percent in FY2019 buoyed by improved power supply and efforts to improve the investment climate, according to the statement.

The services sector, the ADB statement said, will likely grow by 6.4 percent in FY2019 with the expansion of wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, and financial intermediation.

The update said the inflation is projected to rise to 4.4 percent in FY2019 from 4.2 percent in FY2018, partly reflecting somewhat higher inflation expected in India, stable oil prices, and higher government expenditures under the new federal structure.

Likewise, revenue collection, according to the statement, has primarily increased on higher import growth and an improvement of the tax system. The budget as of mid-January 2019 is in surplus by NRs173.3 billion owing to strong revenue growth and a marginal slowdown in recurrent expenses, it said.

Though capital expenditure has surged in the fiscal year through mid-February, its execution stands at only 22.5 percent, the ADB statement said.

This could again lead to a spending spree in the last month of the fiscal year, undermining the quality of capital projects, says the update.

With rising trade and current account deficit, Nepal increasingly faces the risk of external sector instability. Data to mid-February 2019 show that trade deficit has surpassed net invisible earnings, widening the current account deficit to $1.5 billion, marginally up from a deficit of $1.4 billion in the year earlier period. The current account deficit is projected to widen further to 9.3 percent of gross domestic product in FY2019, up from 8.2 percent a year earlier on increased imports of capital and consumer goods and services, notwithstanding a healthy growth of remittances and stable oil prices, according to the update.

“Challenges to smooth implementation of fiscal federalism and maintaining fiscal discipline at large could pose potential risks to the outlook. Nepal has the potential to achieve and sustain higher growth rate over a long period of time if these challenges are addressed,” Khamudkhanov said.

KATHMANDU: The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) will be donating relief material worth Rs five million to the victims hit by the devastating windstorm.

A meeting of the leading organization of private sector on Monday also decided to appeal FNCCI Chapters in State 2 to carry out rescue and relief.

At least 27 persons were killed and over 500 were injured following the calamity that hit Bara and Parsa districts on Sunday night.

The Coca-Cola Company has launched the 5by20 program to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs in 200 countries by 2020. The company has initiated 5by20 program in 2010 to enable the economic empowerment of the targeted number in the esteemed time.

“In collaboration with our partners, we aim to help women entrepreneurs overcome the barriers they face to business success”, Coca-Cola said.

The company is helping women who produce ingredients, supply goods, distribute beverages, own shops, recycle packaging and create products from packaging. “Women are a powerful global economic force, but they are consistently undervalued.

We wanted to do something to change that, so we made a global commitment to enable the economic empowerment of five million female entrepreneurs by 2020”, the company informed.

The company is helping women overcome the barriers they face when trying to succeed in the marketplace offering training, financial services and connections with peers and mentors.

The program is currently working in more than 40 countries including Brazil, South Africa, Philippines, India, China, Mexico, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Haiti and Egypt.

The empowered women aspire to own their own businesses, provide a good education for their children, and create the best life possible for their families. The company aims to provide the tools and skills needed to act on those dreams.

KATHMANDU: A total of 81,077 applicants have so far applied for the Korean Langue Test (KLT) under the Employment Permit System. Out of the total number, 55,997 have applied in productive sector while 25,080 applied for the agriculture and livestock sectors.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment, EPS section, the candidates will have to fill out forms online from March 22 to 31.

Human Resource Department under the Korean government has announced vacancies for 10,050 Nepali workers – 7,050 for productive sector while over 3,000 for agriculture and livestock sectors – at the request of the department for the year 2019. KLT will be held on June 8-9.

KATHMANDU: Showcasing a total of 77 different projects worth $31.93 billion in various sectors, the government is all set to host the Nepal Investment Summit on March 29 and 30 in Kathmandu.

Themed ‘A Promising Investment Destination’, the two-day summit, aimed at demonstrating the country’s improved business atmosphere to potential foreign investors, will showcase 50 government-owned projects and 27 other projects from the private sector, according to the Investment Board Nepal (IBN).

The IBN said around 600 investors from 40 countries will participate in the summit. The summit is also aimed at attracting and convincing the foreign investors to invest in Nepal at a time when it has a stable government.

The summit will also include deliberations on investment opportunities in the above-mentioned sectors besides focusing on opinions from experts and investors to bring in investment here in areas of physical infrastructure, energy, information technology, agriculture, industry, health and education, and tourism.

The country’s Federal Parliament has already endorsed the Public-Private Partnership and Investment Bill with an aim to creating an easy and smooth environment to foreign investors.

A total of 25 energy and infrastructure-related projects, 17 projects related to tourism and 11 related to the transportation sector will also be presented during the summit to realize the government’s goal of “Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali”.

Similarly, the summit will be showcasing a total of eight agricultural projects, seven projects related to urban development, and six industrial sector-related projects. Likewise, the government will also put forth three projects relating to education and the health sector.

The IBN said the main objective in the summit will be to demonstrate the improved business climate of the country in recent years to potential investors. “The summit will focus on transforming the political and policy stability into trust among the domestic and international business society.”

The summit will also include deliberations on investment opportunities in the above-mentioned sectors besides focusing on opinions from experts and investors to bring in investment here in areas of physical infrastructure, energy, information technology, agriculture, industry, health and education, and tourism.

The summit to be inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Oli on Friday will see ministers of different ministries briefing about the country’s current favorable investment climate.

Maha Prasad Adhikari, CEO at the IBN informed that rather than sharing information on theoretical aspects, they would provide a complete package about projects to the potential investors.

The IBN, which coordinates the summit, has listed and finalized several projects worth Rs 3.1 trillion such as West Seti, AR-6; Sunkoshi II and III, Lower Arun, Nalgadh Hydropower Project, Tamor Water Reservoir Project, and SR-6 for joint-venture.

Likewise, projects such as Kathmandu-Pokhara Railway, East-West Electric Rail, Kathmandu Metro Rail, and Gautam Buddha International Maternity Hospital, would also be showcased in the summit.

To be inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Oli on Friday, the summit will see ministers of different ministries apprising participants of the country’s current favorable investment climate.

It should be noted that the first summit held in 2017 bringing around 250 international investors, succeeded in securing Letters of Intent (LoIs) worth Rs. 13.74 billion from foreign investors.

KATHMANDU: The eight edition of Nepal International Trade Fair is set be organized at Bhrikutimandap from March 28.

The fair will showcase 225 stalls featuring featuring domestic and imported goods and services such as handicrafts, tourism, information technology, agro products among others.

The fair to be organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and supported by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies .

Ninety stalls will be from China. The event is promoted by the Trade and Promotion Center. Some 100 thousand people from home and abroad are expected to visit the fair which will conclude on April 1.